Hydraulic crane



Oct. 18, 1960 D. J. FANGMAN 2,956,691

HYDRAULIC CRANE Filed June 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Donald J. Fan gmarg.

RNEYS.

Oct. 18, 1960 D. J. FANGMAN 2,956,691

HYDRAULIC CRANE;

Filed June 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III IIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR.

Donald J Fangman.

ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent HYDRAULIC CRANE Donald J. Fangman, Amarillo, Tex.,assignor, by mesne assignments, to William R. Curtis, Amarillo, Tex.

Filed June 8, 1959, Ser. No. 818,937

2 Claims. (Cl. 212-35) This invention relates to a hydraulic crane, andmore particularly to a lifting device of this type which may be mountedupon a truck or the like for lifting objects from the ground to thetruck or from the truck and placing the objects on the ground.

Various attempts have been made in the past to devise a crane of thischaracter which would be simple and adapted to be attached to the rearend of a truck or the like and wieldable for the purpose intendedwithout inter-fering with loading or unloading of the truck. None ofsuch apparatus have proven commercially satisfactory.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a jack ofthis character. mountable upon the rear of a truck bed or the like andhaving a hydraulic jack mounted on the standard of the crane adjustableon the arm of the crane for maximum height or lift of the boom, and theboom also being adjustable with respect to the arm to increase the rangeof lift and deposit of the objects being moved.

More specifically, other objects of the invention are to provide astandard or post having a member mounted therein'and rotatable thereonhaving a head to which the arm is pivotally mounted and the hydraulicjack is also pivotally mounted; to provide the upper end of the arm witha sleeve for receiving a boom slidable therein to adjust the length ofthe boom; to provide the arm with means forsecuring the hydraulic jackthereto in adjusted position to increase the lift or height of thecrane; to provide one end of the boom with a hook or fastening devicefor, attachment to the objects to be lifted; to provide the hydraulicjack valve means and withahandle fortpperatin g th e same; and toprovide a device of this character simple and economical to manufacture.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention I haveprovided improved details of structure, the preferred forms of which areshown in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of my improved hydraulic crane mounted on the rearof a truck or the like.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on a line 2-2, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through the standard andarm showing the rotatability of the device and the boom slidable in thesleeve on the arm of the crane.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on a line 44, Fig. 3,particularly illustrating the mounting of the arm, the jack securedthereto, and the pin for securing the boom in the sleeve.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

1 designates a crane embodying the feature of my invention comprising ahollow post or standard 2 having a base 3 adapted to be secured to therear end 4 of a truck bed or the like 5 by bolts 6. The truck as shownhas a bed 7 with sides 8. Mounted on top of the post is a collar orsleeve 9 having a flange 10, and extending from one side thereof is aplate or arm 11 adapted to be secured to the top of the bed by bolts orthe like 12 (Fig. 1). I also provide a bracket 13 around the post whichhas its ends 14 attached to the side of the bed, as indicated at 15.

Mounted for rotation within the tubular standard 2 is a tubular memberor post 16 having a head or bracket 17 with spaced upwardly extendingside arms 18 and 19 with aligned openings 20 and 21 near the end edge 22thereof for mounting an arm or head 23. The head 23. has bracket arms 24and 25 spaced apart to engage within the arms 18 and 19 of the bracket17 and are provided with openings 26 and 27 for securing the head 23 tothe arms 18 and 19 by pins of the like 28 and 29 (Fig. 4).

The upper end of the arm is provided with a sleeveor tubular member 30for receiving a boom 31 of I-beam construction, as best illustrated inFig. 4. The boom is mounted for sliding in the sleeve 30 and is providedwith a plurality of spaced openings 32 and is held in an adjustedposition in the sleeve by a pin 33. The outer end of the boom isprovided with a hook 34 for use with a chain or the like (not shown) forfastening to the object to be lifted by the crane. The side arms 18 and19 of the bracket 17 are provided with aligned openings 35 near the endedge 36 of the arms for mounting a base 37 of a hydraulic jack 38. Thebase has a sleeve member 39 provided with an opening 40 (Fig. 3) forreceiving a pin 41 extending through the openings 35 in the arms 18 and19 for pivotally mounting the hydraulic jack on the bracket 17.

The hydraulic jack is of the hand operated type by handle 42 andincludes the usual reservoir, pump and fluid. It also includes the usualvalve 43 for control of the fluid to allow the jack to be lowered. Thejack is of conventional type and no invention is claimed in the specificform thereof. a

The hydraulic jack includes a piston rod 44 having a flat head 45 at itsouter end adapted to engage the fiat portion of hollow square-shapedmember 46 sleeved'over a pin 47 extending through aligned openings 48and 49 in the arms 24 and 25 near the sleeve. The arms 24 and 25 ofthe'head 23 are also provided withaligned openings as indicated at 50'(Fig. 3) spaced from the aligned openings 48 and 49 and at a slightlylower'elevation or towards the pivotal point of the head for adjustmentof thejack and head to get a greater lift with the jack when thedeviceis inoperation. .7 f

In operation of the device constructed and assembled as described, thehydraulic jack 38 is lowered by manipulation of the handle 42 so thatthe piston 44 is extended into the cylinder and thus the arm or head 23will be lowered and at the same time the jack and arm will pivot withrespect to each other on the bracket between the arms 18 and 19. Whenthe boom is lowered the chain (not shown) may be attached to the objectto be lifted through the hook 34 on the end of the boom and thenoperation of the handle 42 of the jack will extend the piston to raisethe arm and the boom with the load thereon. When it has reached thedesired height it may be rotated to deposit the load in the truck. Thereverse op- Ieration may be accomplished t d'unload the load from the Bychanging the pin 47 to the opening 50 a higher lift Will be accomplishedwith the device. Also the adjustment of the boom 31 in the sleeve 30 ofthe arm 23 to its outermost position or to the left, as shown in thedrawmg, will give a greater lift and also a greater range for deposit ofthe load. A spacer 51 may be provided between the flange 10 of thesleeve 9 and the lower side of the head plate 17 for easier rotation ofthe head 23 and to adjust the heights of the head plate 17 with respectto the base 3 by using a different sized spacer 51 or sleeve 9 toaccommodate beds of different shape and heights.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that I have provided an improvedhydraulic crane which may be operated by a hydraulic jack having anadjustment of the jack with the head orlarrn for'accomplishing greaterlift and a boom slidable in the sleeve of the arm for greater range ofwork.

While I have here described a form of invention which has been provensatisfactory, other forms may be used without departing from the spiritof my invention.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A lifting device of the character described for mounting on a vehiclecomprising, a standard mounted on said vehicle, a post rotatably mountedon said standard, an elongated substantially horizontally disposed headon saidpost, an arm extending upwardly from said head, means pivotallymounting said arm adjacent one end of said elongate head for swingingmovement in a vertical plane extending longitudinally of said elongatehead, a sleeve on the upper end of said arm and having an elongate openended channel therethrough substantially in the plane of swingingmovement of said arm, a boom slidably mounted in said sleeve channel forlongitudinal movement relative thereto for adjusting the extension ofthe boom, means securing said boom to said sleeve to hold said boom inselected extended position, said boom having a load carrying portionextending from said sleeve at the end thereof toward the other end ofsaid elongate head, the longitudinal axis of said load carrying endportion of the boom being in a line at an obtuse angle to thelongitudinal axis of said arm, and an extensible member having one endpivotally mounted adjacent said other end of the elongate head insubstantially horizontal spaced relation relative to the pivotalmounting of said arm, said extensible member being substantially in theplane of swinging movement of the arm and having its other end pivotallyconnected to said arm below and adjacent said sleeve for raising andlowering said boom in response to extension and contraction respectivelyof said extensible member, the longitudinal axis of said extensiblemember being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis ofsaid load carrying end portion of the boom and having a relativeposition whereby said extensible member is substantially upright whenthe boom is in lowered position and is inclined from said uprightposition in a direction toward said one end of the elongate head whensaid boom is in raised position.

2. A crane of the character described for mounting on the bed of a truckor the like comprising, a hollow standard having a base for attachmentto the bed of the truck, a post rotatably mounted in said hollowstandard, an elongate substantially horizontally disposed head on saidpost having open ends and spaced side flanges provided with alignedopenings near each end of the head, an arm having spaced side plates,said side plates having aligned openings in the lower end thereof, a pinengaged in the aligned openings in the lower ends of the plates and inone end of the side flanges of the elongate head for pivotally mountingsaid side plates to the arm thereto whereby said arm extends upwardlyfrom said one end of said elongate head and is swingable in a verticalplane extending longitudinally of said elongate head, a sleeve on theupper end of said arm and having an open ended channel therein in theplane of swinging movement of said arm, said side plates of the armhaving pairs of spaced aligned openings near said sleeve, a boomadjustably mounted in said sleeve channel for movement longitudinallythereof .for selectively varying the extension of the boom therefrom andhaving a load carrying end portion extending from said sleeve, meanssecuring said boom to said sleeve in selectedextended position, thelongitudinal axis of said load carrying end portion of the boom being ina line at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of said arm, anhydraulic jack having a handle for operating same, means pivotallymounting one end of the jack in the aligned openings near the other endof the side flanges of said elongate head in substantially horizontalspaced relation and toward the load carrying end of the boom relative tothe pin pivotally mounting the arm on the head, said jack having itsother end extending between the arm side plates and pivotally connectedin a pair of the spaced aligned openings in said side plates near thesleeve whereby operation of the handle will operate said jack to raiseand lower said boom, the longitudinal axis of said hydraulic jack beingsubstantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said boom andhaving a relative position whereby said hydraulic jack is substantiallyupright when the boom is in lowered position and is inclined from saidupright position in a direction toward said one end of the elongate headwhen said boom is in raised position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

